It’s a super easy drive there from any of these locations. Louis, Missouri in the west, and two hours from Louisville in the East. New Harmony, Indiana is located about 35 minutes outside of Evansville, Indiana, two hours from St. The labyrinth is a big part of New Harmony – you’ll see its symbology everywhere! How Do I Get to New Harmony, Indiana? Utopian vibes blending with changing foliage and cooler temperatures will make the experience even more strange and unusual. Since so many of the tours, shops, and restaurants are only open on the weekend for tourists, it’s very important that you come on those days and not during the week.Īs far as time of the year goes, Spring and Fall will be the most temperate, but fall is even better if you plan to take a ghost tour while you’re here. When’s the Best Time to Visit New Harmony, Indiana?įirst and foremost, your best bet is to arrive on a Friday and stay through early Sunday, or visit on one of these days. In only 13 years, two utopian societies had failed to launch. Unfortunately, this utopian experiment fizzled out after only two years, as they had trouble establishing how the community would actually run, had trouble securing donations, and generally had more “thinkers and scientists” than workers. He also started the US’s first kindergarten and women could wear pants (yay pockets!). Owen believed that the best way to change the world was through education, and brought with him teachers and scientists to teach both boys and girls about the world through hands-on learning (which was pretty revolutionary at the time). What luck! He and his business partner William Maclure purchased New Harmony to start their own utopian social experiment, though secular as opposed to religious. The very next year, a Welsch social reformist named Robert Owen moved to America and just happened to be in the market for a utopian community. So despite creating a large, orderly, and high-functioning society, they moved back to Pennsylvania in 1824 to start a new utopian city, “Economy.” This move was to be closer to other German Americans and the eastern market, and because of an interpretation of the bible where the “Sunwoman” fled into the wilderness multiple times, which they identified with since Economy was literally their third commune.įather Rapp also had another vision of the second coming of Christ, which he believed would happen September 15th, 1829, so I guess they thought the third utopia would be the charm… A portrait of Father Rapp in the Working Men’s Institue shows him in his traditional, er, gnome garb? Also, malaria carried by mosquitos living by the swampy river killed about 200 members, so that wasn’t good either. While the 850 Harmonists were entirely self-sufficient and produced a wide variety of goods, like textiles, spirits, horticultural products, and leather goods that were recognized worldwide for their fine quality, they started to realize that Indiana was a bit more remote than Pennsylvania as far as trade and industry went. They stayed until 1814 when he then moved the group again to Indiana believing that the weather would be more temperate to grow grapes, and “New Harmony” was born.įather Rapp and his congregation of “Harmonists” or “Rappites” believed that the second coming of Jesus was imminent, and worked hard for ten years building their model community to achieve the Christian ideology of perfectionism. Father Rapp was a charismatic leader who originally lead his congregation of Lutheran separatists from Germany to their first utopian settlement in Harmony, Pennsylvania in 1804. What we do know is that in 1814 the town of New Harmony, Indiana was formed by Father Johann George Rapp. While there is no evidence that people lived exactly where New Harmony stands today, it seems likely that Native People once passed through these parts. Indiana was originally inhabited by prehistoric mound builders, and later by the Piankeshaw Tribe long before it was ever a Utopian society, but with the Treaty of 1818, these Indigenous People were forced from their land and out of Indiana. What’s the history of New Harmony, Indiana? This is the Cathedral Labyrinth in the middle of town. New Harmony is famous for having two labyrinths, which are used for meditation and spiritual insight.
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